We all want to be fit, but sometimes you just need an extra boost to make it to the gym, to decide on a workout, or to deal with the aftermath. Here are ten tried and proven fitness hacks to tackle in the new year.

Which Android app is worth a spot on your new smartphone or tablet? Trying to find the very best of the best is a challenging process, because there are millions of apps to pick from on the Google Play Store. Even if you just scan Google’s “top free” or “top paid” list on a daily basis, you’ll miss out on a lot of digital gems. Allow us to help you out with our freshly updated Lifehacker Pack for Android.

Just as ballet dancers need to learn a few words of French, and runners need to be able to hear and speak the Swedish word fartlek without giggling too much, people who practice yoga will do best if they can understand the Sanskrit and other terms that are common in yoga classes and yoga videos.

Your muscles are made of protein, so if you’re building muscle you need to eat up. But how much protein do you really need? More than a couch potato, but less than the protein-crazy gym bros would have you believe. Here’s how to quickly calculate the real answer.

Last year around this time, a lot of us set some fitness goals for the year. I asked readers to weigh in here on whether you’re planning to learn something new, gain or lose weight, or try a race or competition.

I'm a casual yoga-er, but when I meet people who are serious about yoga, they're always talking about their "practice." Basically, if you're really into it, you don't need to wait for a convenient class or a new episode from your favourite YouTube yoga channel. You work on what you want, where you want, on your own terms. If you're joining our December yoga challenge, now might be a good time to build your own home practice.

There are plenty of great apps to keep track of your running mileage, and a clear winner when it comes to cycling (Strava, duh). But it's a bit harder to pick a winner when you're lifting in the gym. Until recently, all the apps were clunky and hard to use. Now... well, only some of them are.

A fitness watch is a natural gift for the fitness-minded person in your life, but picking one out can be tricky. Here are some guidelines for which type of athlete tends to prefer which type of watch.

If you’re not a runner, but you’d like to be, the classic way to start is with a couch-to-5K program (available in convenient app, podcast, or printable chart form). But we know you’ll have plenty of questions along the way, so here’s what you need to know.

The beauty of running sans headphones is that you get to finally be alone with your thoughts. This is also the horror of running without headphones: what if you don’t want to be alone with your thoughts?

December can be a stressful time of the year, so we’ve saved our most relaxing, grounded, honour-yourself challenge for last.

To get the most out of your personal training sessions and workout classes, it helps to be a good client who knows how things work. Plus, it's always nice to be nice and make things easier for your instructors. We asked several fitness professionals what they wish their clients knew going in and this is what they said.

Luckily for me, I don’t find physical activity to be a chore. I genuinely enjoy biking, running and playing soccer, and do all of those things on the regular. But when it comes to stretching — well, I just hate it! My mantra is basically, “I’ll stretch when I’m dead.”

The appealing part of playing sports and working out is the movement, and so, when I’m presented with the concept of getting down on a mat and holding my body in a stagnant position, I just don’t do it.

If you have even the tiniest inkling that you might want to get in shape in the new year—or anytime really — don’t wait until January. The best time to start a gym habit is right now, when you’ll have the place to yourself.

Technically speaking, running is supposed to be the cheapest form of exercise; it’s just you and the path. However there are so many different tech options to help make you a better, or more focused, runner that it’s hard not to be tempted by new tech.

Putting together a bodyweight workout routine is easy: just do some pushups, and some squats, and some...uh...other stuff. To get a balanced workout, you have to know which exercises target which muscles. Which is why we love this bodyweight exercise chart from Darebee.

Most of us don’t meet recommended exercise guidelines, which is a shame because regular exercise is good for us for a million reasons besides weight loss. The new guidelines released this month, are even easier to meet, and they include recommendations for people ages three and up.

When I ran my first obstacle course race, I envisioned crossing the finish line triumphantly, a big smile on my face, glowing with the joy of achievement. In reality, it was a sweaty and humid unseasonably warm day, but in my race photos I look great. My secret? I ran in a full face of makeup.

If Rambo was a real person, the standing military press would be his favourite weight training exercise. A variation of the overhead press, it derives its name from its use in the military as a strength indicator.

If you want to get in shape, the military press is definitely a move worth mastering, as it targets the shoulder, upper arm and leg muscles simultaneously. Here's how to do it correctly.